Lead author Dr Ben Krause-Kyora from Christian-Albrechts University in Kiel Germany said: Mesolithic hunter-gatherers definitely had dogs
Co-author Dr Greger Larson from the Department of Archaeology at Durham University added: Humans love novelty and though hunter-gatherers exploited wild boar it would have been hard not to be fascinated by the strange-looking spotted pigs owned by farmers living nearby.
#Calcium supplements may not prevent bone loss in women with breast cancerwomen undergoing treatment for breast cancer are prescribed widely calcium
and manage osteoporosis an unwanted side effect of breast cancer therapies. However new research from Wake Forest Baptist Medical center finds that the recommended daily doses of these supplements may not prevent loss of bone mineral density (BMD) in these women.
Study author Gary G. Schwartz Ph d. a cancer epidemiologist at Wake Forest Baptist said the purpose of the study was to examine
whether a seemingly common sense prescribing practice actually works. We evaluated clinical trial evidence for calcium
and Vitamin d supplementation in maintaining skeletal health of women with breast cancer he said. At the doses recommended the data show that these supplements are inadequate to prevent loss of BMD.
Schwartz and co-author Mridul Datta Ph d. a postdoctoral fellow at Wake Forest Baptist reviewed data from clinical trials that evaluated the effect of antiresorptive drugs on BMD
and used the before-after data from the comparison group to assess change in BMD in pre-and in postmenopausal women.
and 200-1000 IU Vitamin d the doses commonly recommended do not prevent loss of BMD in women with breast cancer.
Despite supplementation women lost BMD in virtually every clinical trial reviewed. The study appears online ahead of print this month in the journal Critical reviews in Oncology/Hematology.
Women with breast cancer lose BMD at a higher rate than their healthier counterparts increasing their risk of fractures
which are associated with significant declines in function and health-related quality of life and in higher mortality rates.
Consequently it is a common practice to prescribe calcium and Vitamin d supplements to these women a low intensity intervention that seems to make sense Datta said
In the clinical trials reviewed BMD in the women was measured at the beginning and end of the studies Datta said so
because cardiovascular disease is the main cause of mortality in women with breast cancer. There is growing evidence that calcium supplements may increase the risk of heart attack and stroke.
The take-home message is that this very common practice of supplementation doesn't really seem to be said working Schwartz.
and efficacy of calcium and Vitamin d supplementation in women undergoing breast cancer therapy. The research is supported by the Comprehensive Cancer Center of Wake Forest University Cancer Control Traineeship--NCI/NIH grant R25ca122061.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Wake Forest Baptist Medical center. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
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#New technique for measuring tree growth cuts down on research timetree growth is measured to understand tree health fluxes in carbon sequestration and other forest ecosystem functions.
It is one of the most essential and widely collected woody plant traits. Yet the traditional method to measure tree growth is awkward and time consuming.
Dr. Beth Middleton of the U s. Geological Survey National Wetlands Research center and Evelyn Anemaet of Five Rivers Services Inc. discovered a way to simplify the construction of dendrometer bands.
Steward conducted the study with Kansas State university's Michael Apley professor of clinical sciences and an expert in cattle production;
#Oxygen-generating compound shows promise for saving tissue after severe injurythe same compound in a common household clothes detergent shows promise as a treatment to preserve muscle tissue after severe injury.
Researchers at the Wake Forest Baptist Medical center's Institute for Regenerative Medicine hope the oxygen-generating compound could one day aid in saving
The research in rats published online ahead of print in PLOS ONE found that injections of the compound sodium percarbonate (SPO) can produce enough oxygen to help preserve muscle tissue
and associate professor of regenerative medicine at Wake Forest Baptist We modified the material so it can be injected into muscle
and provide a boost of oxygen to slow down muscle death until surgery can restore blood flow.
Potential applications include treating amputations crush injuries from car accidents or even blast injuries suffered by those in combat zones.
SPO is a combination of sodium carbonate and hydrogen peroxide molecules. In the presence of water it decomposes into oxygen and other salts.
Normally when blood flow to muscle tissue is reduced due to severe injury the muscle begins to die said Harrison.
Providing extra oxygen to oxygen-deprived muscle following injury is currently a major medical challenge. The few treatments that are available are aimed primarily at increasing the oxygen-carrying capacity of blood
If successful Harrison said the treatment could potentially extend the window of time known as the golden hour in emergency medicine
The major implication of these findings is that oxygen-generating compounds can potentially reduce the magnitude of the permanent functional deficits resulting from traumatic injury to muscle said George Christ Ph d. co-author and professor of regenerative medicine at Wake Forest Baptist.
because it delivers oxygen independent of blood flow may also have diverse applications to the salvage repair and regeneration of soft tissue following trauma.
The research was funded by the National institutes of health and the Armed forces Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Co-authors are Catherine L. Ward Ph d. Benjamin T. Corona Ph d. James J. Yoo M d. Ph d. Wake Forest Baptist.
The above story is provided based on materials by Wake Forest Baptist Medical center. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
In excess it can cause ammonia toxicity and algal blooms altering water quality and harming aquatic life.
Much of modern agriculture relies on biologically available nitrogenous compounds made by an industrial process developed by German chemist Fritz Haber in 1909.
and water as runoff from agricultural fields causes a host of problems including respiratory illness cancer and cardiac disease.
and oxygen is toxic to nitrogenase the enzyme needed to fix nitrogen. This is why most organisms that fix nitrogen work in an anaerobic (oxygenless) environment.
and Missouri Botanical gardens Dr Chris Stapleton turned his attention to the bamboos of Africa. He found that the features of the mountain bamboos were significantly different to those of Asia
#Higher intake of fruits and vegetables may reduce the risk of bladder cancer in womenuniversity of Hawaii Cancer Center Researcher Song-Yi Park Phd
and vegetables may lower the risk of invasive bladder cancer in women. The investigation was conducted as part of the Multiethnic Cohort (MEC) Study established in 1993 to assess the relationships among dietary lifestyle genetic factors and cancer risk.
Park and her fellow researcher's analyzed data collected from 185885 older adults over a period of 12.5 years
of which 581 invasive bladder cancer cases were diagnosed (152 women and 429 men). After adjusting for variables related to cancer risk (age etc.
the researchers found that women who consumed the most fruits and vegetables had the lowest bladder cancer risk.
For instance women consuming the most yellow-orange vegetables were 52%less likely to have bladder cancer than women consuming the least yellow-orange vegetables.
The data also suggested that women with the highest intake of vitamins A c and E had the lowest risk of bladder cancer.
No associations between fruit and vegetable intake and invasive bladder cancer were found in men.
Our study supports the fruit and vegetable recommendation for cancer prevention said Park. However further investigation is needed to understand
and explain why the reduced cancer risk with higher consumption of fruits and vegetables was confined to only women.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Hawaii Cancer Center. Note:
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#Toxic nanoparticles might be entering human food supplyover the last few years the use of nanomaterials for water treatment food packaging pesticides cosmetics
and other industries has increased. For example farmers have used silver nanoparticles as a pesticide because of their capability to suppress the growth of harmful organisms.
However a growing concern is that these particles could pose a potential health risk to humans and the environment.
because we do not know the toxicity of the nanoparticles. Our goal is to detect identify
and quantify these nanoparticles in food and food products and study their toxicity as soon as possible. Lin and his colleagues including MU scientists Azlin Mustapha
This study provides a promising approach for detecting the contamination of silver nanoparticles in food crops
However this has come at a cost as they are detrimental to long-term soil health.
'This is a whole new approach to plant nutrition says Dr Peter Leggo of the Department of Earth sciences who developed the material.
The authors conclude Such fruits can provide a source of new bioactive compounds with functional properties beneficial to health which should stimulate the pharmaceutical
According to Dr Matt Heard of CEH: All workers in a bumblebee colony are daughters of a singly-mated queen
because they can devote more energy to reproduction explains Dr Heard. Our findings could help land managers to plan schemes to help conserve bumblebee populations in both agricultural
Dr Claire Carvell the project leader says Ultimately we want to be able to predict which types of landscapes work best for bumblebees
Dr Heard will present the team's findings to INTECOL at Excel London on Thursday 22 august 2013.
He and Dr Carvell are working with Professor Andrew Bourke at the University of East Anglia Dr Seirian Sumner and Dr Stephanie Dreier at the University of Bristol and Dr Jinliang Wang at the Institute
#Insecticide-treated bed nets critical to global elimination of filariasisan international team of scientists have demonstrated that a simple low-cost intervention holds the potential to eradicate a debilitating tropical disease that threatens nearly 1. 4
The researchers including Case Western Reserve University School of medicine professor James Kazura MD found that insecticide-treated bed nets reduce transmission of lymphatic filariasis to undetectable levels--even
in the absence of additional medication. Their study appears in the August 22 issue of The New england Journal of Medicine.
The World health organization reports that more than 120 million people suffer from lymphatic filariasis commonly known as elephantiasis.
About a third of that number are disfigured or disabled by the disease a parasitic-worm infection spread by mosquitoes.
Our study quantifies the effect of the most widely implemented vector control measure--insecticide-treated bed nets
--and highlights the importance of integrating this type of intervention as a part of the global strategy to eliminate lymphatic filariasis said Kazura the paper's senior author and director of the medical school's Center for Global Health and Diseases.
With a little bit of effort and not much money we don't have to live with this painful disfiguring disease.
This study follows research that Kazura published in in 2002 The New england Journal of Medicine.
and efficacy of administered annual antifilarial drugs over five years to residents of five villages in Papua new guinea.
The team demonstrated that the mass drug strategy nearly eliminated the parasite from humans but did not stop its transmission by mosquitoes.
The success of a strategy utilizing medication requires at least 80 percent of the population to receive treatment annually for at least five years.
Ten years after villagers took their last medication round they received free bed nets as part of Papua new guinea's national malaria control effort.
they could find no mosquitoes harboring parasites capable of transmitting the disease. Insecticide-treated bed nets already are used widely in areas where lymphatic filariasis
and malaria are present. They block female mosquitoes from securing blood a process that is essential for them to lay eggs and produce offspring.
The insecticide reduces the life-span of the insect by half preventing it from living long enough for the parasite to become capable of transmission.
and thus further compromise transmission of the infection to another human. We should not rely solely on mass drug administration to eliminate lymphatic filariasis.
By combining the existing strategy with vector control we are more likely to reach elimination thresholds said Lisa J. Reimer Phd first author on the paper and a lecturer at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.
Our findings clearly demonstrate this low-cost solution could complement the successes of the current elimination program
while having a high payoff for both filariasis and malaria control. Kazura and his colleagues in Papua new guinea plan to study progress in eliminating the disease over the next several years.
The group also will test new drug combinations for mass treatment in nearby populations and evaluate the effects of broader bed net distribution in the country.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Case Western Reserve University. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
#Genesis and evolution of H7n9 influenza virusan international team of influenza researchers in China the United kingdom and the United states has used genetic sequencing to trace the source
and evolution of the avian H7n9 influenza virus that emerged in humans in China earlier this year.
The study published today in Nature was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious diseases (NIAID) a component of the National institutes of health and other organizations.
From these samples the researchers isolated several influenza viruses and genetically sequenced those of the H7n9 subtype as well as related H7n7 and H9n2 viruses.
Within ducks and later within chickens various strains of avian H7n9 H7n7 and H9n2 influenza exchanged genes with one another in different combinations.
Given these results the authors write continued surveillance of influenza viruses in birds remains essential.
The above story is provided based on materials by NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious diseases. Note:
Dr Claire Spottiswoode from the University of Cambridge's Department of Zoology who carried out the research said:
Dr Spottiswoode said: Under these circumstances it makes good sense that honeyguides have a lot to gain from tricking other honeyguides.
and their hosts in Zambia led by Dr Claire Spottiswoode who adds My colleagues and I are very lucky to be helped by a wonderful team of local field assistants who find all the nests we study
They proposed a new twist on the functional significance of the megafaunal dispersal syndrome and published their findings recently in the American Journal of Botany.
The large heavy and poisonous seeds surrounded by a fleshy and nontoxic fruit-like layer seem well adapted to being swallowed occasionally whole en masse by megafauna
Co-researcher Dr Joram Mwacharo added: Of course it's not only some breeds of chicken that produce blue eggs.
The fuel is toxic but higher concentrations will drive down the cost of isolating the fuel.
which is available all year round but highly toxic. When food was plentiful gemsbok specialised exclusively on grasses and more ephemeral succulent species. In contrast springboks fed on a higher proportion of shrubs and trees than grasses and succulent plants irrespective of environmental conditions.
The potential effects of the Damara milk-bush on gemsbok health are still unknown. However by extensively using this poisonous plant gemsbok succeed in surviving environmental challenges.
Gemsbok seem to be well adapted to the toxic effects of special plants growing in dry regions
The researchers forecast changes to natural selection the spread of infections and the sexual development and fertility of wild animals.
#Celery, artichokes contain flavonoids that kill human pancreatic cancer cellscelery artichokes and herbs especially Mexican oregano all contain apigenin
and luteolin flavonoids that kill human pancreatic cancer cells in the lab by inhibiting an important enzyme according to two new University of Illinois studies.
Apigenin alone induced cell death in two aggressive human pancreatic cancer cell lines. But we received the best results
when we pre-treated cancer cells with apigenin for 24 hours then applied the chemotherapeutic drug gemcitabine for 36 hours said Elvira de Mejia a U of I professor of food chemistry and food toxicology.
and the chemotherapeutic drug simultaneously said Jodee Johnson a doctoral student in de Mejia's lab who has graduated
Even though the topic is still controversial our study indicated that taking antioxidant supplements on the same day as chemotherapeutic drugs may negate the effect of those drugs she said.
One of the ways that chemotherapeutic drugs kill cells is based on their pro-oxidant activity meaning that flavonoids
and chemotherapeutic drugs may compete with each other when they're introduced at the same time she explained. Pancreatic cancer is a very aggressive cancer
and there are few early symptoms meaning that the disease is often not found before it has spread.
Ultimately the goal is to develop a cure but prolonging the lives of patients would be a significant development Johnson added.
It is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths with a five-year survival rate of only 6 percent she said.
The scientists found that apigenin inhibited an enzyme called glycogen synthase kinase-3î (GSK-3î) which led to a decrease in the production of anti-apoptotic genes in the pancreatic cancer cells.
Apoptosis means that the cancer cell self-destructs because its DNA has been damaged. In one of the cancer cell lines the percentage of cells undergoing apoptosis went from 8. 4 percent in cells that had not been treated with the flavonoid to 43.8 percent in cells that had been treated with a 50-micromolar dose.
In this case no chemotherapy drug had been added Treatment with the flavonoid also modified gene expression. Certain genes associated with pro-inflammatory cytokines were highly upregulated de Mejia said.
According to Johnson the scientists'in vitro study in Molecular Nutrition and Food Research is the first to show that apigenin treatment can lead to an increase in interleukin 17s in pancreatic cells showing its potential relevance in anti-pancreatic cancer activity.
Pancreatic cancer patients would probably not be able to eat enough flavonoid-rich foods to raise blood plasma levels of the flavonoid to an effective level.
But scientists could design drugs that would achieve those concentrations de Mejia said. And prevention of this frightening disease is another story.
If you eat a lot of fruits and vegetables throughout your life you'll have chronic exposure to these bioactive flavonoids
which would certainly help to reduce the risk of cancer she noted. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Illinois College of Agricultural Consumer and Environmental sciences.
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#Psychiatric patients given smoking-cessation treatment less likely to be participated rehospitalizedpatients who in a smoking-cessation program during hospitalization for mental illness were able to quit smoking
and were less likely to be hospitalized again for their psychiatric conditions according to a new study led by a Stanford university School of medicine scientist.
The findings counter a longstanding assumption held by many mental-health experts that smoking serves as a useful tool in treating some psychiatric patients.
Smoking among such patients has been embedded in the culture for decades with cigarettes used as part of a reward system.
Indeed clinicians sometimes smoke alongside patients as a way of creating a rapport with them said Judith Prochaska Phd MPH associate professor of medicine at the Stanford Prevention Research center
and lead author of the study. The result is that psychiatric patients are among the country's most prolific smokers
and among those most likely to die of smoking-related ailments Prochaska said. Nearly half of the cigarettes sold in the United states are to people with psychiatric or addictive disorders according to data from the U s. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The average life expectancy for people with severe mental illness is 25 years less than that of the general population
and their leading cause of death is chronic illness mostly tobacco-related. Prochaska said it has long been thought that
if these patients quit smoking it would be detrimental to their recovery--that they would lose a critical crutch for coping with stress.
However she pointed out that the daily cycle of nicotine withdrawal a smoker experiences creates a great deal of stress
and that mental-health providers are equipped well to assist patients with developing healthier forms of coping.
The new study showed that a simple intervention that included periodic contact with a counselor written and computerized materials
and the use of nicotine patches could support rather than harm the patients'mental health she said.
This is a very low-cost brief intervention that helped patients quit smoking and offers evidence that it may have helped their mental health recovery said Prochaska who focuses on developing interventions to treat tobacco dependence in people with mental illness or addictive disorders.
She said the study done in collaboration with researchers at UC-San francisco is the first to examine the impact of a stop-smoking intervention in adult psychiatric patients.
It will be published online Aug 15 in the American Journal of Public health. Michael Fiore MD MPH director of the University of Wisconsin Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention and a leader in national policy for tobacco treatment who was involved not in the study said the paper provides powerful evidence
that evidence-based tobacco dependence treatments can substantially increase quit rates among psychiatric inpatients. We know that psychiatric patients smoke at very high rates
and are at tremendous risk from their smoking. Thus the findings hold promise to make an important real-world contribution to the health of these patients.
Since 1993 tobacco use in U s. hospitals has been banned with the exception of inpatient psychiatry units
which can and often do permit smoking and where staff may smoke with patients. Prochaska regularly gives talks in
which she documents the long history of tobacco in psychiatry sharing excerpts from a 1951 psychotherapy handbook that encourages practitioners to smoke during treatment sessions.
Her work also has highlighted how the tobacco industry has sponsored research to promote the self-medication hypothesis--that patients with psychiatric disorders need to smoke to function
--and marketed their products to patients with psychiatric disorders. Tobacco use has been thought to help calm patients
and enable them to focus in therapy she said. Certainly a cigarette will calm someone who is in a state of nicotine withdrawal
and in hospitals that structure smoking breaks every four hours the patients are being thrown into repeated withdrawal states that are uncomfortable and stressful.
When hospitals adopt smoke-free policies along with using nicotine-replacement products the therapeutic environment is balanced more she said.
The challenges mental health clinicians have feared when banning smoking have not been borne out by studies. Smoking also can interfere with treatment affecting the metabolism of some psychiatric medications Prochaska said.
For instance it increases the body's elimination of olanzepine a drug used for psychosis or psychotic depression by more than 90 percent and of Haldol a common schizophrenia drug by 44 percent.
Some patients may appear more alert and attentive simply because the tobacco smoke is reducing the sedating side effects of their psychiatric medications she said.
To test the effects of treating tobacco use among hospitalized psychiatric patients the researchers initiated an intervention among 224 patients at the Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute a smoke-free locked mental hospital for acute care at UCSF.
All patients who smoked at least five cigarettes daily prior to hospitalization were invited to participate. Few were ready to quit smoking yet 79 percent agreed to participate.
The patients had a range of psychiatric diagnoses including depression bipolar disorder and schizophrenia; three in four were actively suicidal.
Half were assigned randomly to a treatment group and the other half received the usual care.
All patients were offered nicotine patches or gum during their smoke-free hospitalization. Patients in the control group received a pamphlet about the hazards of smoking with information on how to quit.
Participants in the treatment group completed a computer-assisted program with tailored feedback received a print manual met for 15-30 minutes with a counselor
and were offered a 10-week supply of nicotine patches available when the participant became ready to quit.
All of the materials were tailored to patients'readiness to quit and the computer-assisted intervention was repeated at three and six months post-hospitalization to support participants through the process of quitting smoking.
A copy of the computer printout was mailed to patients'outpatient providers. A key aspect of the intervention is did that we not assume all patients were ready to quit Prochaska said.
We met them where they were worked at and with them over time. When they became ready to quit we were there for them
and they could get the patches to help with withdrawals. Only a small number of patients--16 percent--initially said they were prepared to quit
when they enrolled in the study though over time they became progressively more committed to the process
which is typical in these types of interventions Prochaska said. The participants all were contacted following hospital discharge at one week and at three-six-12-and 18-month follow-ups.
Quit rates were confirmed with breath samples or by a third party who knew the participant. At the end of the 18 months 20 percent of those in the treatment group had compared quit smoking to just 7. 7 percent in the control group the researchers found.
Moreover there were fewer hospital readmissions among those in the treatment group--44 percent compared to 56 percent in the control group.
This is the first finding of its kind and Prochaska said it needs to be replicated. But at a minimum she added treating patients'smoking did not harm their mental health recovery
and may have enhanced even it. I think some of the therapeutic contact that addressed participants'tobacco dependence
and supported them with this major health goal may have generalized to them feeling better about their mental health condition she said.
The patients'diagnoses and the severity of their symptoms had no impact on intervention outcomes the researchers found.
Assumptions we have made in the field--that these patients don't want to quit are too ill to quit
or that quitting will hurt their mental health recovery--none of that held up she said. What did influence outcomes were patients'perceptions at the study start of how successful they would be with quitting
and how difficult it would be to not relapse as well as their level of nicotine dependence--the same factors that affect smoking-cessation results in the general population.
Prochaska said reaction from the psychiatric community thus far has been positive. I received a call from a clinician asking to make a referral--saying this is a great program.
She then asked'Should we stop giving out cigarettes at our clinic?''I thanked her for the call
and encouraged'Yes please do.''The work is raising consciousness and has the potential to change practices.
If we wonder in our field why our patients smoke at such high rates we have to start by looking at how we've addressed tobacco.
This is the one group that has been encouraged to smoke and discouraged from quitting by their providers.
The tide is changing and this is a very exciting time for the field. Prochaska and her colleagues are now following up with a larger trial involving more than 900 patients at Stanford Hospital & Clinics Alta Bates Summit Medical center in Berkeley and UCSF's Langley Porter.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Stanford university Medical center. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
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